ePub From Couscous to Kasha: Reporting From the Field of Jewish Community Work by Seymour Epstein in History

Description

During the nineteenth century; tens of thousands of Chinese men and women crossed the Pacific to work; trade; and settle in California. Drawn by the gold rush; they brought with them skills and goods and a view of the world that; though still Chinese; was transformed by their long journeys back and forth. They in turn transformed Hong Kong; their main point of embarkation; from a struggling; infant colony into a prosperous; international port and the cultural center of a far-ranging Chinese diaspora.Making use of extensive research in archives around the world; Pacific Crossing charts the rise of Chinese Gold Mountain firms engaged in all kinds of trans-Pacific trade; especially the lucrative export of prepared opium and other luxury goods. Challenging the traditional view that this migration was primarily a "coolie trade;" Elizabeth Sinn uncovers leadership and agency among the many Chinese who made the crossing. In presenting Hong Kong as an "in-between place" of repeated journeys and continuous movement; Sinn also offers a fresh view of the British colony and a new paradigm for migration studies.